the strongest souls of suffering
by george's firework
Summary: They have a complicated relationship. She reeled him back in from the dark abyss of emotion he'd fallen into and then was stolen by another man.


**Dedicated to J.K. Rowling to thank her for every day of my childhood.**

She was just a humble Hufflepuff with a heart of gold, a sweet smile, and an inner light that could illuminate entire cities.

He was a shrewd Slytherin with a heart of stone, a sarcastic smirk, and a father who had taught him that it wasn't exactly _wrong _to have a sort of darkness within him, but it was frowned upon by most in today's society.

_I let it fall, my heart_

There was a feeling burning deep within him whenever he looked at her but he knew it could never work. Most people met him and immediately disliked him because of his name, his family, and the person his father was trying to bring him up to be. He wasn't that person, though.

_And as it fell, you rose to claim it_

Out of all the members of the Weasley-Potter clan, no one expected it to be quiet, modest Lucy who would step forward and stand up for Scorpius when he was shunned by everyone at Hogwarts because they all thought he was a person he wasn't.

_It was dark and I was over_

A space had formed between Scorpius and the other students, even those within his own house, and no matter how hard he tried to close it, it just seemed to grow even worse. And so, after a few years, he let the space grow and distanced himself from everyone else.

_Until you kissed my lips and you saved me_

Then she came and everything was fire and light and wonder and slowly, ever so slowly, she reeled him back in from the dark abyss he had fallen into. She had an ideology of sorts that everyone should be given a chance to show that they weren't who people assumed them to be.

_My hands, they're strong_

He had resisted at first; with everything he had. He had tried to fool himself into thinking that he didn't need help or love, that he was fine just the way he was. He was above everyone else – he didn't need pity.

_But my knees were far too weak_

But, oh, he was so wrong. He needed help and love more than anyone else in the entire school. Everyone else could see that, without friendship and any sense of happiness, he was slowly falling to pieces.

_To stand in your arms_

She was two years younger than him and she didn't actually get the chance to speak to him until her third year when she visited the kitchens to collect a dish of raw steak for Hagrid who needed to summon some Thestrals. He was sitting in the corner, surrounded by various piles of food and several empty bottles of extra-strength Butterbeer, trying to find some semblance of peace in the small bit of alcohol. She sat down beside him and took the latest bottle out of his hand.

_Without falling to your feet_

"Who the hell are you to come in here and take that as if you own me, or something?" He slurred and she double-checked the amount of bottles at their feet. There were a lot more than she had previously thought and she sighed.

_But there's a side to you that I never knew, never knew_

She said nothing, only vanished all the bottles and the food and stayed by his side as he muttered nonsense to himself. Eventually he fell asleep against her shoulder and she quietly summoned one of the house elves to get them a blanket and take the steaks down to Hagrid. She was shocked, to say the least, to see him like this. She'd seen him from a distance and known he was having a hard time but this just shocked her…

_All the things you'd say, they were never true, never true_

"I don't need your help, Lucy!" He had yelled at her a week after the event in the kitchens when she offered to help him with some Herbology homework. "I don't understand why people keep offering me help; I don't need anyone's help!" He had stormed away from her, even though he knew he was lying through his teeth. He needed her help more than a dying plant needed the sun but if he couldn't admit that to himself, he couldn't admit it to anyone.

_And the games you play, you would always win, always win_

She was playing some sort of game with him, he reckoned. Maybe she had some sort of bet on – who could make Scorpius Malfoy look like the biggest fool and feel like the biggest piece of shit in the shortest space of time? He knew for sure she was managing both of those very well – as well as playing a massive game with an organ he hadn't known existed until he met her: his heart.

_But I set fire to the rain_

And now it was a year later and Lucy had done what everyone else had thought to be impossible – she had slowly brought Scorpius Malfoy back to earth and under her wing. Anyone who didn't know the two wouldn't have known that Lucy was three years younger than her sixth year boyfriend. In fact, even those who did know them occasionally got mixed up and believed Lucy was older.

_Watched it pour as I touched your face_

She changed him completely. He became sweet, and compassionate, and loyal all because she introduced him to her family and they took to him like a duck to water, coaxing out his true personality and making him feel for the first time like he truly belonged somewhere. Everywhere he went, Lucy was with him, under his arm, holding his hand, sitting in his lap, and anyone could see they were devoted to each other.

_Let it burn while I cry_

There were moments when he was without her and people around him became scared because it seemed that without Lucy, without his anchor, he would just go back to his previous self. But he didn't – there was only one occasion when Lucy had gone home for the holidays and Scorpius stayed in the castle. Some third year kid thought it would be funny to tease Scorpius about his father's life. Lucy had come straight back to Hogwarts to find Scorpius waiting for her, his face set.

'_Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name_

Fred, who had taken an odd liking to the Slytherin boy right from the start, set off a crate of fireworks in the third year's dormitory – specially enchanted fireworks which followed the poor boy around all day. Nobody messed with Scorpius after that but Lucy was always there just in case they did. Until Lorcan appeared.

_When laying with you_

He was perfect and handsome and charming and the complete and utter opposite of Scorpius. One day he just whirled into their lives, trapped Lucy in his stupid gorgeous dark blue eyes, and whirled out again – just like that. To stop himself falling back into that dark, dark place without his light called Lucy, Scorpius had to resort to his memories.

_I could stay there, close my eyes_

There in his memories, Scorpius was happy – well, as happy as he could be. Whenever he saw Lucy and Lorcan together, all he had to do was picture himself in Lorcan's place – where he should have been anyway. It was sad and twisted but he would rather be that than depressed and falling back into that horribly dark place where he'd been before. It was hard, without Lucy, but he was still a part of the small group that was Fred, Roxanne, Dominique and James – everyone had been surprised when they adopted him. He was just a quiet part, though.

_Feel you here, forever_

Whilst they were planning pranks and causing mischief, he was tagging along behind, thoughts consumed by Lucy. He could still remember how agonising it had been when she'd come to him, looking so upset, and when he'd gone to kiss her she'd turned away.

_You and me together, nothing is better_

"…we both knew it was never going to work out anyway… you're amazing… you have Rose… I have Lorcan… you'll be fine…" She'd kissed his cheek and walked off, leaving him there alone to gaze after her; shocked. She was wrong, so wrong. He wasn't amazing. He didn't have Rose – he'd lost her a long time ago. He wouldn't be fine.

'_Cause there's a side to you that I never knew, never knew_

"If it makes you feel any better, she's not usually like that," James observed one day several months later when Lucy and Lorcan strolled past, hand in hand. When Scorpius raised an eyebrow at him, he sighed and elaborated. "You know, all leaving you for another guy. I've never seen her like that before." At that point Dominique elbowed her cousin in the ribs to shut him up. Scorpius spent the rest of the day sitting under a tree at the edge of the Forbidden forest, watching the rain as he thought about how he was the only one special enough to be abandoned by Lucy.

_And the games you'd play, you would always win, always win_

"Maybe she's playing a game," James suggested a few days later, earning himself dubious, exasperated looks from the rest of the group. Dominique sighed and thumped him over the head. "Hey! Why do you guys never take me seriously? Hear me out. Maybe, she's just toying with him by going out with Scamander. She's trying to get you to prove something. What you need to do is go up to her and publicly declare your love for her. Chicks totally dig stuff like that."

_But I set fire to the rain_

"I do not understand what your little group of fan girls see in you… I honestly don't," Dominique commented and he grinned bashfully up at her. Scorpius just rolled his eyes at their flirting (which they always denied was flirting because they were "cousins" and that was "sick") and strode angrily from the courtyard, determined to do something which was so abnormal for him.

_Watched it pour as I touched your face_

She was in the library – as always. He was beside her – also as always. The two of them were strolling through the shelves when he finally found them, stopping occasionally to check over a book or chat to a friend. Just seeing her stretching up on her toes to reach for a book – something she'd always done with him – made him snap. He marched over to them, shoved Lorcan unkindly out of the way, gently took Lucy's face in his hands, and kissed her.

_Let it burn while I cried_

She pulled away and exchanged a _look _with Lorcan. He nodded and disappeared as she walked away beside Scorpius. And then her hands are on the sides of his face and she's pulling his head down so their foreheads touch and oh he's in heaven but it's not to last. He fights the embarrassing tears as she gently but firmly tells him it's over. She has Lorcan now.

'_Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name_

And then he's alone and he can't fight the horrible feeling of defeat anymore and he slumps against a bookshelf and lets it claim him. And he could swear to Salazar that every single book surrounding him is screaming out Lucy's name and projecting images of her until he's in an aisle full of spectral Lucys and her name is engraved into the very soul of him.

_I set fire to the rain_

"Scor, you need to get up, Scor. The library's closing." Scorpius momentarily wonders if the voice telling him to move belongs to an angel and he's died and gone to heaven and then he recognises Roxanne and his heart breaks a bit more. It's not her. "Look, Scor, I know it's hard but there's only two ways to get around this little problem here. You can either do the cowardly, Slytherin thing and let her go, or you could find some Gryffindor bravery and fight for her."

_And I threw us into the flames_

The next morning he woke up with a killer headache, a broken heart, and an auburn-topped head peering down at him. Dominique grinned when she saw that he was awake, pulled him out of bed and straight to the Slytherin table in the Great Hall without even letting him get dressed. Scorpius couldn't think to be glad he had worn pyjamas last night – he was too focused on Lucy who was sitting beside Lorcan at the Ravenclaw table. He didn't know if he _could _fight – what he'd done yesterday had probably sealed the deal. He'd never have his light called Lucy to brighten the day again.

_Where I felt something die, 'cause I knew that_

"Don't look, she's looking over," James whispered loudly, throwing himself down into the seat beside Dominique and casually wrapping his arm around her shoulders in a very un-cousin-like manner. Scorpius nearly got whiplash, his head shot up so fast. Their eyes connected instantly and his heart shattered even more as he saw what was in her expression and it confirmed his thoughts. His actions yesterday had just completely killed any chance of being with her again.

_That was the last time, the last time_

And then Lorcan noticed them staring at each other and bustled Lucy out of the hall under his arm, not glaring at Scorpius but not smiling at him either. He was never going to leave her side again and Scorpius had completely missed his chance. Groaning he put his hand down on his plate which was still full of the bacon Dominique had put there.

_Sometimes I wake up by the door_

By the end of his sixth year he'd lost count of the amount of times he'd lost count of how many times he'd wandered down to the kitchens for some food and ended up passed out in front of the portrait to the Hufflepuff common room where she was.

_Now that you've gone, must be waiting for you_

It was something in his body and mind and general being that just made him want her even more now that he'd lost her but no matter how many times he fell asleep in the corridor, it was never her who woke him up – no matter how late he slept.

_Even now when it's already over_

"Scorp, mate, you need to do something about this," Fred said to him one morning when he spotted him drowsily making his way up from the Hufflepuff corridor. "Either get over it, because it's over, or fight for her, like Roxy said. I don't think you can fight for her anymore, though. It might actually kill you."

_I can't help myself from looking for you_

And he tried. Merlin, he tried _so _hard to get over her but everytime he saw curls of red – and there was a lot of that when Hogwarts was completely infested by Weasleys – his heart stopped, flew, and then plunged back to earth with a firm sense of finality.

_I set fire to the rain_

But one day, six months later just before they were due to break up for the Christmas holidays, a miracle happened.

Lucy and Lorcan broke up.

_Watched it pour as I touched your face_

He found her out in the clock tower courtyard, just sitting in the fresh snow, staring blankly at the snow-coated benches which surrounded her. She looked up at him with watery eyes and he gathered her into his arms without a word.

_Let it burn while I cried_

"I… I… I r-realised s-something last n-night," she whispered and he held her closer as tears spilled onto the snow where they froze immediately. He wasn't sure who they belonged to. "I… I realised t-that I only went with L-Lorcan because I wanted to m-make you j-j-jealous. I w-wanted to see if you actually c-cared about me enough to… to do something, anything! A-and you did but I d-didn't want to hurt L-Lorcan but he f-figured it out and w-we had an argument t-this morning and b-b-broke up!"

'_Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name_

"And then I h-heard your voice. Y-you were talking to someone, a girl, and I was jealous and came out here hoping you'd follow me and you did and I'm so, so sorry because I've caused you so much pain and I d-don't know how you can take it."

_I set fire to the rain_

Gently he wiped away her tears with the pad of his thumb and smiled, just so happy to have her back in his arms that he would willingly forget everything.

"I always knew you would come back to me somehow, my light, my Lucy," he whispered.

_And I threw us into the flames_

And after that moment they were back together and they were fire and ice, humble and shrewd, light and dark. They fought, and they made up. They kissed, and they yelled at each other. They drove every family member and friend completely insane with their topsy-turvy relationship but none of it mattered to them.

_Where I felt something die_

Because she was Lucy and he was Scorpius and they were such an unlikely pairing but they didn't care because they loved each other so much that they had realised they would do anything for each other. Even if it meant hurting the other without knowing, but it would never happen again. There was no more jealousy and no more break-ups.

'_Cause I knew that that was the last time, the last time, oh_

And on the day of his graduation she was sitting in the front row, beaming at him, with that slender promise ring gleaming brightly on her finger. She promised that there would be no more upset in their relationship. She promised she would wait until she left school to move in with him. She promised she would love him.

_Oh no, let it burn, oh_

In return he promised the same things. He promised there would be no more anger or fighting. He promised he would wait for her, and wait patiently. He promised he would love her – not just for now, but forever.

_Let it burn_

"I love you," she whispered to him.

_Let it burn_

"As I love you," he whispered back.


End file.
